Avondale All-America City Delegation Recognized

ARTICLE | Aug 30, 2017

The Avondale City Council held a special recognition for the 2017 All-America City delegation at its Council Meeting on Monday, August 7. Avondale was recently named an All-America City Award, an honor bestowed on just 15 communities around the country who have demonstrated civic engagement by helping young children achieve grade-level reading proficiency and early school success.

The city received this recognition from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and the National Civic League. The city of Avondale, with the help of programs like Valley of the Sun United Way’s Read On Avondale, has moved the needle on school readiness, school attendance, summer learning and literacy for children from low-income households. The program has also helped to address cross-sector collaboration and inclusiveness with civic and business leaders. The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a collaboration between funders, nonprofit partners, business leaders, government officials and more, to ensure more children from low-income families succeed academically.

“I was proud to have been among the 2016 All-America City delegation from Avondale which competed for this honor in 2016,” said Kenn Weise, Mayor of Avondale. “Valley of the Sun United Way, Read On Avondale and Avondale Elementary School District took up the mantle in 2017 to help our community clinch this time-honored All-America City designation. The work they, along with so many other partners and stakeholders, have done on behalf of the children of Avondale is tremendous. This award is well-deserved.”

Thank you to the Valley of the Sun United Way, Avondale Elementary School District, and Council Member Lorenzo Sierra for accepting the National Award on behalf of the City this July in Denver CO. Avondale Mayor and Council formally recognized the agencies at the Council meeting.

To learn more about Avondale programs that support literacy, visit the Avondale Public Libraries (Civic Center and Sam Garcia branches) and get involved in year round reading initiatives. Initiatives and events will be hosted throughout the year in honor of the All-America City prestigious designation. For more information about All-America City, visit www.nationalcivicleague.org